Past University Theatre and Dance
Explore the University Theatre and Dance performances presented in the 2024 - 2025 Season!
The Mad Ones
Mainstage Play
May 30 - June 8, 2025
Thursday - Saturday, 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, 2:00 p.m.
Fess Parker Studio Theatre
Don’t forget to breathe.
18-year-old Samantha Brown sits in her car with keys in her hand, unable to turn the key. Torn between the expectations of her mother and the hopes of her impetuous best friend, Sam relives her senior year and the unexpected loss that led her here. With a score that inspired a generation of musical theatre lovers, The Mad Ones is a cult-hit musical filled with humor and heart which asks the question: is it better to follow the path laid out or throw out the map and chart a new route?
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View the Digital Program for The Mad Ones.
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View photos from the production on our Flickr account.
New Playwrights’ Festival
Student Spotlight Series
June 1 - 4, 2025
Sunday - Wednesday, 7:00 p.m.
Fess Parker Studio Theatre
Brand new plays take the stage.
Be the first to experience the creativity and talent of emerging playwrights at the New Playwrights’ Festival! Join us for an electrifying evening of never-before-seen one-act plays, written, performed, and directed by the brilliant minds of SCU students.
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View the full Digital Program here.
overhead, a skylark called
Mainstage Play
May 9 - 18, 2025
Thursday - Saturday, 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, 2:00 p.m.
Multiple Locations Across Campus
A group of travelers separated, now stuck in three locations…
One is walking in circles…Two waiting for a train…Three for a plague to end…
A message: stop the circles, find a river, follow the skylark…
A new devised piece of dance-theater collaboratively created with Sinatra Visiting Artists-in-Residence Detour poses the question “what do you call home?” Choose from three experiences at locations across campus (Vari Hall, de Saisset Museum, Edward M. Dowd Art and Art History Building). This not-to-be-missed immersive and unique theatrical event culminates at the Louis B. Mayer Theatre.
Want to know more about devised theatre? Check out this guide.
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View the full Digital Program here.
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Brian Thorstenson is the first faculty appointment to the Frank Sinatra Chair in the Performing Arts since the program was revitalized in 2016. A professor at Santa Clara University for the last 21 years, Brian is a San Francisco-based writer, educator, and theater-maker. Through his appointment as the 2023-2025 Sinatra Chair in the Performing Arts, Brian has engaged students in new and exciting ways, incorporating their voices and lived experiences into the creative process of developing and implementing an original devised theatre piece.
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The Plague Archives includes explicit images of disease, suffering, and death, and deals directly with human behaviors in events of mass illness, including histories of scapegoating, racism, sexism, anti Semitism, genocide, disease and science denialism, and class, financial, and scientific exploitation.
Spring Dance Festival ‘25
Student Spotlight Series
April 12 - 13, 2025
Saturday, 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, 2:00 p.m.
Fess Parker Studio Theatre
Celebrate the start of spring with a spell-binding performance of original student choreography from seniors Andréa Georgenes and Kristin Hill.
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View the Digital Program here.
She Kills Monsters
Mainstage Play
February 28 - March 9, 2025
Thursday - Saturday, 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, 2:00 p.m.
Louis B. Mayer Theatre
Roll for initiative.
Agnes would never be caught dead playing Dungeons and Dragons. But after the sudden loss of her parents and younger sister Tilly, she finds herself grieving in an unexpected way. While Agnes and Tilly were distant in life, Agnes finds a surprising new connection to her sister after discovering Tilly's notebook containing a game scenario. Playing the game Tilly designed, Agnes embarks on a journey filled with dungeon masters, fierce LGBTQI+ warriors, homicidal fairies, raunchy ogres, and bloodthirsty cheerleaders as fantasy and reality start to merge in this hilarious and heart-wrenching show from Emmy Award-winner Qui Nguyen.
She Kills Monsters contains adult language, mild staged violence, and some mature themes. Recommended for ages 13+.
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View the Digital Program here.
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“Fun set and prop design, great cast, entertaining yet emotional play, seamless ticket and theater experience.”
“Great production overall - choice of play, actors, sets, costumes, visuals - all came together to immerse the audience in the story.”
“Show was well designed, well directed, and overall very enjoyable!”
Winter One Act Festival
Student Spotlight Series
February 15 - 16, 2025
Saturday and Sunday, 2:00 p.m.
Fess Parker Studio Theatre
An unforgettable afternoon of one acts.
Immerse yourself in this captivating program one-act plays, featuring Chekhov’s fast-paced farce, The Proposal and a powerful play inspired by the poems of SCU students, Little Godless Monsters.
Directed by our exceptional students, these theatrical gems will take you on a journey of new possibilities and perspectives through imaginative storytelling, engaging characters and fascinating places.
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View the Digital Program here.
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Coming Soon.
Images 2025
Mainstage Dance
February 6 - 9, 2025
Thursday - Saturday, 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, 2:00 p.m.
Louis B. Mayer Theatre
Emotions, rhythms, and spectacle intertwine in Images 2025. This awe-inspiring showcase features a thrilling collection of student and faculty-choreographed pieces in a wide range of genres and styles.
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View the Digital Program here.
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Coming Soon
Choreographers’ Gallery
Mainstage Dance
December 5 - 6, 2024
Thursday, 8:00 p.m.
Friday 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.
Louis B. Mayer Theatre